ARCADIA >> Four of the candidates vying for a seat on the City Council are hoping voters will want to bring new blood to city government, while one candidate is hoping his past experience on the council will return him to office.

The five people facing off for three seats on April 8 are: former three-time mayor and four-term Councilman Roger Chandler, who is not an incumbent; Sho Tay, a retired businessman, who has been a previous City Council candidate; and newcomers Tom Beck, a retired Pasadena attorney; Paul E. Van Fleet, an insurance agent; and Burton L. Brink, a sergeant in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station.

The race has no incumbents because term-limit rules prevented Councilmen Robert Harbicht and Peter Amundson from running and Mayor Mickey Segal’s decision not to seek re-election.

But Chandler is counting on his history as a councilman.

“Experience is important,” said Chandler, who took a mandatory two-year hiatus from the council after completing two terms in 2012. “It doesn’t rule out anybody from becoming a good council member.”

“After 16 years, I think people have had the opportunity to see me operate,” he added. The other candidates, all long-time residents, are hoping their involvement in the community will propel them onto the Council.

“I think it’s time to get a fresh set of eyes to make sure everything is operating as beautifully as everyone says it is,” said Van Fleet.

“I think I’m truly an outsider,” he said. “I’m not friends with anybody.”

Van Fleet said he would be focused on bridging the gap between the Chinese and English speaking communities in Arcadia.

Brink said he wanted to create some excitement and pride among residents and promote more community events, like an Arcadia float at the Rose Parade.

Beck said after speaking with Chinese community leaders, he believes Chinese residents in Arcadia are happy with the way the city is going.

“I look at Arcadia like one big neighborhood,” he said. “Something we need to work on is community relations to develop a community atmosphere.”

Chandler said the two communities work well together.

The candidates agreed there must be some control over the mini-mansions that are being built in neighborhoods in the city, but said that most of that regulation lies with the Planning Commission and homeowners’ associations.

When it comes to development at Santa Anita Race Track, the candidates appeared to be in agreement there should be some commercial development.

Beck said he would be in favor of an upscale shopping destination, like The Grove in L.A. or The Americana in Glendale.

Tay said the city should create some kind of public transit from the future Gold Line station downtown to the racetrack that would encourage people to take the Gold Line into Arcadia.

Chandler said a future council could face the decision of what to do with the property if the race track eventually closed.

“I don’t think anybody has the answer to that,” he said. “There’s no sense getting too excited about it until it happens.”

Sarah Favot is an award-winning Los Angeles-based freelance writer. Most recently she was a data and investigative reporter at L.A. School Report, a non-profit education news website. Prior to that she was a staff writer for the L.A. Daily News covering county government. She is Vice President of the Los Angeles Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists.